The Upper Tribunal has upheld the Financial Conduct Authority’s decision to ban Darren Antony Reynolds from working in financial services and to fine him £2,037,892, marking one of the most serious enforcement outcomes arising from the British Steel Pension Scheme cases. The ruling, first published on 19 January 2026, represents a decisive endorsement of the FCA’s findings on dishonesty, lack of integrity and deliberate misconduct in pension transfer advice. The Tribunal agre

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined oil and gas consultant Russel Gerrity £309,843 for insider dealing after he used confidential drilling information to generate personal trading profits of £128,765. The enforcement action highlights the FCA’s continued focus on market abuse and the critical role of surveillance and industry reporting in detecting misconduct. Between October 2018 and January 2022, Mr Gerrity exploited inside information obtained through his consu

The High Court has upheld the Payment Systems Regulator’s (PSR) authority to regulate payment systems, backing its powers to impose a cap on cross-border interchange fees. The judgment, delivered on 15 January 2026, represents a significant affirmation of the PSR’s statutory remit and its role in safeguarding competition and service user interests across the UK payments landscape. The legal challenge arose in response to the PSR’s proposal to cap cross-border interchange fees

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has secured a £265,523.96 confiscation order against Andrew Currie, a former director linked to the collapsed peer-to-peer lending platform Collateral (UK) Ltd, marking another significant step in its efforts to strip fraudsters of illicit gains and return funds to victims. Currie was convicted in 2023 and sentenced to 2 years and 6 months’ imprisonment after defrauding investors through Collateral, a platform that raised funds from retai

The US Department of the Treasury has convened a FinCEN Exchange bringing together global financial institutions, US federal law enforcement agencies and Treasury officials to strengthen efforts to identify and dismantle sophisticated money laundering networks. The Immediate Release, dated 19 December 2025, underscores the growing regulatory and enforcement focus on Chinese money laundering networks and their role in facilitating transnational organised crime. The Exchange fo

The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has announced a significant regulatory intervention aimed at improving transparency, governance and oversight in the UK card payments market, following concerns over rising scheme and processing fees charged by Visa and Mastercard. The measures mark a decisive step to address what the regulator has identified as a lack of effective competition and insufficient fee transparency. Card payments play a central role in the UK economy, yet the PS

The Financial Conduct Authority has launched a wide ranging consultation on proposals that will shape the next phase of the UK’s cryptoasset regulatory framework, signalling a decisive move towards bringing crypto markets closer to traditional financial services standards. Published on 16 December 2025, the consultation forms part of the FCA’s crypto roadmap and aligns with new government legislation laid on 15 December, reinforcing the UK’s ambition to create an open, compet

The Financial Conduct Authority has imposed a £44 million fine on Nationwide Building Society for significant failures in its financial crime systems and controls, reinforcing the regulator’s uncompromising stance on anti-money laundering governance across the UK banking sector. The penalty relates to weaknesses that persisted between October 2016 and July 2021, during which Nationwide was unable to effectively identify, assess, monitor, or manage money laundering risks withi

The Financial Conduct Authority has introduced Firm Checker, a new consumer-facing verification tool designed to curb the rising scale of investment and pensions-related scams. With FCA research indicating that around 800,000 people reported losses to scams in the 12 months to May 2024, the launch represents a significant escalation in the regulator’s strategy to shield consumers from sophisticated fraud tactics. Firm Checker enables users to confirm whether a financial servi

The Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has imposed a civil money penalty of $3.5 million on Paxful Inc. and Paxful USA Inc. after identifying extensive and prolonged breaches of the Bank Secrecy Act. The peer-to-peer virtual currency platform facilitated more than $500 million in suspicious transactions linked to illicit actors and high-risk jurisdictions, including Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela, as well as payments associated with B

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has released a new Financial Trend Analysis examining ransomware activity captured in Bank Secrecy Act reporting between 2022 and 2024. The analysis identifies more than 2.1 billion dollars in ransomware payments over the three-year period and confirms that 2023 marked an unprecedented peak in both reported incidents and associated financial losses. According to FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki, timely suspicious activity reportin

The Justice Department has announced the seizure of tickmilleas.com , a fraudulent web domain linked to the Tai Chang scam compound in Kyaukhat, Burma. The site posed as a legitimate cryptocurrency investment platform and was used to lure victims into depositing their funds, which were then diverted through sophisticated fraud and money laundering schemes. The action forms part of the accelerating crackdown on cryptocurrency investment fraud, a threat that continues to genera